Barcelona , Spain -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Atletico Madrid won the Spanish league title in extraordinary circumstances Saturday courtesy of a draw at Barcelona that denied the Catalan club the crown .

In a breathless end to a compelling La Liga season , the 1-1 draw meant Atletico won their first championship since 1995/96 and in doing so they broke the hearts of the majority of the 98,000 fans present at the Camp Nou .

It was the Uruguayan defender Diego Godin who wrote his name into Los Rojiblancos ' folklore , the 28-year-old rising high to plant a header into the Barca net just after halftime and stun the home side who were hoping to win their fourth title in only five seasons .

But after Godin had canceled out Alexis Sanchez 's fabulous first-half strike for Barca , the defending champions could find no way back against a team which has defied the odds for most of the season .

Now Atleti will turn their attentions to the unlikeliest of doubles as they face city rivals Real Madrid in a mouthwatering Champions League final in Libson next Saturday .

As a result they will not have long to celebrate this triumph , but it is nevertheless one of huge significance as it has broken the stranglehold Barcelona and Real Madrid have enjoyed over the rest of La Liga for a decade .

The last time neither of the biggest two teams finished top of the pile was in 2003/04 , when Valencia beat Barca to the title .

Barca , in truth , looked a shadow of the side that has dominated Spanish football for half a decade . After a season of turmoil on and off the pitch , Gerardo Martino 's side simply did not have the tactical nous or energy with which to overpower an Atletico team who refused to bow to their more illustrious opponents .

It has been a chastening few months for Barcelona . President Sando Rosell resigned in January after allegations surrounding the acquisition of Brazilian forward Neymar last summer , former coach Tito Vilanova tragically passed away in April and club lynchpins Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes have said their goodbyes as they leave the Camp Nou for pastures new .

All the while Barca have struggled on the pitch after a superb start to the season , exiting the Champions League at the hands of Atletico and losing the Spanish Cup final to Real Madrid in April , in the meantime letting the title slip out of their grasp when it was theirs to lose after a 4-3 win at Real in March .

Down to the wire

It was the league no-one could win as Barca , Real and Atleti all threw away points in the final few weeks of the season ; the underdogs from Madrid blowing their first chance to win the title outright when they were held 1-1 at home by Malaga last weekend while Barca were drawing 0-0 in Elche .

But when it came down to Saturday 's once-in-a-lifetime showdown at one of the great cathedrals in world sport , Atletico did not fluff their lines , instead producing a performance that owed more to glorious guts and determination than the glamorous ` tiki-taka ' style with which Barca have won trophies and hearts aplenty in recent years .

And in a league that swung from Barcelona to Real Madrid to Atletico and back all season long , it was no surprise that the once-in-a-lifetime final day showdown saved some of its best twists and turns for the dramatic denouement .

Going into the Camp Nou contest Atleti were three points ahead of Barca and knew a draw would be enough ; Barca needed to win and they would take the title by virtue of a better head-to-head record , which is how the final standings in Spain are determined .

In glorious sunshine Barca began brighter and Atleti were soon rocked by injuries to two of their most decisive players , as first talismanic striker Diego Costa -- reportedly on his way to Chelsea in the summer -- and then classy midfielder Arda Turan limped off in tears at the prospect of their seasons being curtailed so cruelly .

When Alexis seized on a Lionel Messi chest pass in the Atleti box after 33 minutes and rifled a ferocious right-foot shot into the roof of the net from an audacious angle , suddenly Barca were the ones in the driving seat .

But they were also suddenly the ones with everything to lose , and Atletico had clearly not come so far to be denied .

It was the first time Barca had led Atleti in a match since February 2012 , seven meetings ago , and they looked uncomfortable doing so as the visitors took the game to them with renewed gusto .

Heading into history books

At the start of the second half they came out like a train , and after David Villa -- who won the title with Barca last year -- struck the base of the post , Godin rose majestically to score the goal his career and this most remarkable of seasons will be remembered for .

If Atletico looked like they had thrown it away before they were not going to make the same mistake again .

Neymar entered the fray for Barca and he gave them a much greater attacking potency , but Simeone has his team playing in his own image and they blocked and tackled and leaped and chased as if their very lives depended on it .

Messi had a goal rightly ruled out for offside and Dani Alves ' 25-yarder stung the palms of Thibaut Courtois in the Atlei goal but they allowed Barca no closer and as the minutes ticked down , the illogical turned into the inevitable .

The 480-strong band of Atleti fans -- parked right up in the gods at the imposing Camp Nou -- sung their hearts out , and when the final whistle came and their coaching staff raced on to the pitch to celebrate , the players collapsed as one to the turf in collective disbelief at what they had just done .

In the face of such heartbreak , the reaction from the Barca fans was magical -- they stood to a man to applaud the team that had just deposed them as Spanish champions and even sang `` Atleti , Atleti '' as the players rose to their feet to acknowledge what was happening around them .

If winning the league with a playing budget one-fifth the size of Barca 's and Real 's is a modern day fairy tale in a sport where money increasingly talks , then this finale was pure Hans Christian Andersen .

In Lisbon next Saturday , the brilliant Simeone will hope to cause yet another mighty upset and write one final , captivating chapter in the remarkable story of Atletico Madrid 's season .

@highlight

Atletico Madrid crowned champions of Spain following 1-1 draw against Barcelona

@highlight

Diego Godin 's second-half goal at Camp Nou seals a first league title in 18 years

@highlight

Atletico will go for a historic double in Champions League final next weekend

@highlight

Diego Simeone 's side face city rivals Real Madrid in Lisbon